Temilade Openiyi, the world knows her as Tems, the soulful Nigerian singer and producer whose voice has travelled far beyond Africa.
But in a recent chat with fans on X, she peeled back the curtain on what her life might have looked like if music hadn’t carried her away.
During the interactive session, a curious fan threw a question her way:
“If music didn’t work, what else do you think you would be doing today?”
Tems didn’t hesitate. With the same calm honesty she brings to her songs, she replied:
“I might have been an accountant or a mathematics teacher.”
The Grammy-winning star revealed that numbers came naturally to her and that she genuinely enjoyed academics, especially math—a side of her that most fans rarely get to see.
I might have been an accountant or a mathematics teacher https://t.co/IvlDb81bGn
— TEMS (@temsbaby) November 25, 2025
Before fame found her, Tems had already been on a different path entirely. She once worked as a digital marketer before finally walking away from the 9–5 world to pursue the music she loved.
Looking back now, it’s hard to imagine her anywhere else but on the stage, but Tems made it clear that if life had flowed differently, she’d still have found purpose, maybe in a classroom with equations on a whiteboard or behind a desk balancing accounts.
Either way, the world is grateful she chose the microphone.